The Diving-Bell & the Butterfly.

Dictated with the use of just one eyelid, spelling each word one letter at a time, this is an extremely moving autobiography by Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor-in-chief of Elle, after suffering a majorly debilitating stroke. He describes what it is like to suffer from “locked-in syndrome” – a fully functioning mind trapped inside an unresponsive body: the daily routine of the long-term hospital patient, his former life, the dreams he had for the future, the family he wishes to talk to and kiss.

Imagine that everything you have ever known and loved is taken away from you in a second, but rather than dying you are left immobilised within your own body, regretting all that you have lost and can never have again. You still think and feel, but you can’t speak or lift a finger. It must be the saddest and scariest thing in the world.

Still, Bauby retains a light-hearted outlook on his new life. He cracks jokes and plans to write a humourous play. So many times he had me laughing. Others he actually made me cry.

This book is wonderful. It has impacted me greatly after the ordeal I went through with my dad last summer. His descriptions of the different characters in the hospital, especially those who feign care but then ignore desperate signs of discomfort, the importance of routine, the terror dreams…these are not things people realise, but they are all so true.

~ by Mamo on March 27, 2008.